Storm causes school cancellations, power outages

It rained heavily for most of the day in Halifax, and then turned to snow in the afternoon, while lots of snow fell in other parts of the province.

Conditions were just right to turn the heavy wet snow into ice on Halifax-area roads. The result was a chaotic mess of vehicles getting stuck.

There were at least a dozen accidents in the Halifax area alone Wednesday.

At one point 6,000 homes were without power in the Bedford and Sackville areas. Schools along Nova Scotia’s South Shore and Annapolis Valley were closed, along with schools in the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board.

This morning, a car rear-ended an almost empty school bus near Halifax.

“There were minor injuries to the driver of the vehicle,” says Const. Pierre Bourdages of the Halifax Regional Police. “The accident was removed from the area. It took almost an hour to clear the area.”

There were also accidents in other parts of the province, including one between exits 5 and 6 on Highway 103 in the Bridgewater area around noon.

The Jaws of Life were required to get a driver out of one of the vehicles.

Travellers at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport also felt the effects of the storm with many flight delays.

“If they’re gonna go, they’re gonna go. If not, we’ll wait until the next one,” said one traveller.

“I’m flying out to B.C. and I’m flying into the snow,” said another.

The storm also slowed sales at several Christmas tree lots.

“So, they usually come to the lot and make the decision real quick, when the weather is like this, on a day like this today,” says Christmas tree vendor, Randy Naugler.

Halifax’s skating oval also remains out of commission with the heavy rains making it impossible to create ice.

Twenty-foot waves whipped up by the winds have left ships in a holding pattern, as they wait to enter Halifax Harbour.